Blue Ant Studios has struck an exclusive worldwide distribution rights deal to select series and films from Austria’s Red Bull Studios as Blue Ant drives ever more into third-party content.
The titles will be presented to buyers at a Blue Ant Studios’ showcase on Feb. 27 at this week’s London TV Screenings.
Primarily doc features ranging over 60-120 minutes, plus docuseries “Compton Magic” from Lightbox, the Red Bull titles amp up Blue Ant’s offer of top-tier sports and adventure documentaries joining its library of over 7,500 hours of programming.
Acquisitions take in some of the highest-caliber last decade titles from Red Bull Studios, the content division of the energy drink brand Red Bull.
Among standouts are “Anna Gasser: The Spark Within” (2021), a portrait of what drives the two-time Big air Olympic gold medalist, a gymnast turned skateboarder who took sport to a new technical level, pioneering the triple cork; and “The Dawn Wall” (2017), the record of a milestone in big wall free climbing, when in 2015 Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson ascended the towering buttress of El Capitan in Yosemite. The film was rave reviewed by Variety as “a high-strung daredevil movie that has a chance to speak to audiences …cannily crafted and spirited and compelling.”
Also now acquired by Blue Ant Studios, offering titles a new distribution platform, is “The Real Mo Farah,” produced by The Atomized Studios, in which the famed track athlete’s opens up about having been trafficked to the U.K. as a child. The feature was hailed as a “beautiful, heartbreaking story” by The Guardian.
The deal takes in, moreover, “The Moment: How Sports Changed the World,” made with 1895 Films, about how South Africa’s victory in the 1995 World Cup inspired a nation and real change in the racial makeup of the Springboks, South Africa’s national team.
Other titles are “Born to Fly,” produced by Robi Creative, BCII Production & Backflip Media; “The Longest Wave” from Radical Media; “La Liste: Everything or Nothing,” made by Sherpas Cinema, and Blackbeard’s “Riders on the Storm.”
“We are thrilled to expand our offering with Red Bull Studios’ exceptional content. Their unparalleled ability to tell compelling, high-stakes stories in sports and adventure aligns perfectly with our vision of offering premium, impactful programming to audiences worldwide,” said Lilla Hurst, global head of acquisitions and content strategy, Blue Ant Studios, who brokered the deal.
“Many of our films have resonated with audiences in many countries, and with Blue Ant, we have the ideal partner to amplify their reach– ensuring they continue to inspire and find new audiences,” added Sebastian Burkhardt, head of partnerships and commercial strategy at Redbull Studios.
